By Harold Pease Ph. D.
I was a young college professor when on November 4, 1979 America suffered its most humiliating moment in U.S. history. Sixty-Six Americans were taken hostage by radical Islamists terrorists and paraded about blindfolded and 52 of these their lives threatened every day for 444 days in what is now known as The US Embassy Hostage Crises of 1979. Every night Iran’s humiliation of America led the news. President Jimmy Carter, appeared to be the most helpless and inept president. No nation feared him or any other Democrat leader since. Hostages were finally released just minutes before Ronald Reagan took the oath of office, because they knew he would come after them. Since that day these terrorists, their children and grandchildren terrorists have chanted “Death to America.” Iran’s 47 year long war against America just ended with the annihilation of the former radical Islamists government.
Iran never faced accountability and every U.S president since has “tip toed” around Iran helping to maintain their aura of invincibility. Another Islamic act of terrorism against America followed in 1983 when 241 U.S soldiers where blown up in a marine barracks in Lebanon. Other attacks continued mostly on shipping vessels thereafter. Iran became the largest state sponsor of terrorism country. More recently, Iran’s role in backing Hamas was on display which carried out the brutal Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel killing more than a thousand civilians and taking dozens of Americans along with Israeli hostages. In January of this year reports indicate that the ruling mullahs in Iran even slaughtered over 32,000 of their own people demonstrating against them.
Centered in this drama was Iran getting a nuclear bomb. President Obama’s 2018 Iran Deal is alleged to have made that possible years before anticipated. Critics (including Israeli PM Netanyahu, Trump, and analysts from Heritage, Brookings, and the Institute for Science and International Security) argued the deal did not eliminate Iran’s nuclear infrastructure or ambitions—it legitimized and preserved them with a built-in expiration date. This created what opponents called a “patient pathway” to the bomb: Iran could wait out restrictions, retain know-how and facilities, then sprint to weapons-grade material (potentially in weeks) while staying compliant until the clocks ran out. This was precisely what happened. Obama made Iran a nuclear “threshold state” endangering the world.
Iran remained compliant initially but began breaching in 2019 (exceeding stockpile/enrichment limits). By 2024–2025, Iran enriched to 60% (near weapons-grade), amassed enough 60% material for several bombs if further processed, and installed advanced centrifuges. Breakout time dropped to 1 week or less. The deal’s sunsets became largely moot as violations mounted. Negotiations to revive a deal have repeatedly failed. Trump had no choice but to insist Iran return to the table and make a new deal voiding Obama’s 2018 Iran “patient pathway” Iran Deal. THERE MUST BE NO PATHWAY FOR IRAN HAVING A NUCLEAR WEAPON. In April 2025 he gave Iran “a 60 day ultimatum to ‘make a deal!!’” They still refused!
Trump’s response had to be Operation Midnight Hammer June 21, 2025, and was. Stealths flew from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri directly East over the Atlantic for 18 hours completing a 25 minute drop, then home again. But it wasn’t a total success as first thought, it left significant stockpiles of high grade uranium intact which Iran since has refused to surrender.
Tulsi Gabbard recently testified, in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee, that although we had decimated Iran’s ability to develop nuclear fuel, “we had not destroyed the fuel they already had.” CIA Director John Ratcliff testified under oath at the same hearing that “Iran was developing a nuclear weapon prior to Operation Midnight Hammer,” last June 2025, and “was committed to continuing development before Epic Fury” this year. He continued, “Iran possesses at least 440 KG of uranium enrichment to weapons – grade 60% – which doesn’t have a civilian use. The only use for that would be the development of nuclear weapons (X22 Report, Ep. 3864b, March 19, 2026, 25:08 and 52:46). Thus Iran still had fuel for a nuclear weapon which necessitated Trump’s recent February 28th attack on Iran.
Everyone knows Iran’s first use of an atomic bomb will be unleashed on Jerusalem and that the radical Islamic mullahs will unleash it as a matter of Islamic faith. Radical Islamic mullahs cannot be allowed to have a nuclear weapon or rule a country that has one. This necessitates the non religious fanatic population to rise to power and keep that power. This is very possible in a country where 32,000 opposition leaders were executed by their own government just last January. The people do NOT love their mullahs and were video taped dancing in the streets, which is against the law in Iran, upon the news that governing mullah’s were known to have been killed by the bombs.
Trump is presently using back channels to insure that happens and insists he is making some progress. So much so that he recently reported, “I am pleased to report that the United States of America and the country of Iran, have had, over the last two days, very good and productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East. Based on the tenor and tone of these in depth, detailed, and constructive conversations, which will continue throughout the week, I have instructed the Department of War to postpone any and all military strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for a five day period, subject to the success of the ongoing meetings and discussions.”
All U.S. presidents were weak against Iran since 1979. Trump took the invincible Iran out in just 24 days and blew them off the map. Their leadership gone, their navy, air force and defense nearly dead. Finally they have been made to account for their actions both to America and Israel. And the Iranian people will continue to dance in the streets as they embrace freedom. This is why 89% of MAGA approve of Trump’s bringing justice to the mullahs of Iran (Ep. 3863b, March 18, 2026, 41:04). It was long overdue.
Dr. Harold Pease is an expert on the United States Constitution and a syndicated columnist on current events. Read his weekly columns at www.LibertyUnderFire.org Column #865
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